Big Bend news briefs

Wakulla County Sheriff Donnie Crum, right, presents Johnny B. Ross Jr. of Crawfordville with a plaque Tuesday honoring him for his honesty in returning a tourist's lost wallet and fanny pack on March 20.

The Southeastern Community Blood Center is asking for blood donations, O negative in particular.

SCBC said the Easter holiday weekend means more travel, which means a challenge for donations. Donations are needed immediately, according to a release sent out Tuesday by the center. O negative blood is known as the universal blood type — meaning any patient can receive it. It is vital for trauma patients, premature babies and emergency surgeries, according to the release.

Donors can donate at any SCBC location or bloodmobile. Call toll free 1-800-722-2218 for more information or to make an appointment. Those interested in giving can also find SCBC locations and appointment information and see a video story about the need for O negative donations by logging onto SCBCINFO.ORG. Walk-ins are welcome. If you don't know your blood type, the released said, the best way to find out is to donate.

• TALLAHASSEE

Partial loss for grass firm in records case

An appellate court says a grass company cannot obtain records of a University of Florida direct-support organization.

A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal, though, sent Environmental Turf Inc.'s request for other university records back to a trial judge.

The Tallahassee-based court ruled on Monday that records sought by the Avon Park firm from nonprofit Florida Foundation Seed Producers Inc. are exempt from the state's open records law because it is a direct-support organization.

Circuit Judge Robert Roundtree Jr. also had ruled in Gainesville that the other records were covered by exemptions for research and litigation.

The appeal court, though, noted Roundtree never looked at them. It returned that part of the case with instructions to review the records in private before ruling again.

• WAKULLA COUNTY

Sheriff honors man for honesty

On Tuesday, Wakulla County Sheriff Donnie Crum presented Johnny B. Ross Jr. of Crawfordville with a plaque honoring him for his honesty in returning a tourist's lost wallet and fanny pack on March 20.

"I lost my wallet last year and although it didn't have everything in it when it was returned, I was happy to get it back," Ross said. "It was just the right thing to do. I have to be able to look at myself in the mirror each day."

Andre Lamontague and several friends from Quebec were traveling through Wakulla County when Lamontague left his fanny pack at a gas station. Ross found it and turned it in, said WCSO spokesman Keith Blackmar.

"This is in recognition for doing the right thing and to thank you for your honesty," Crum told Ross.

• GADSDEN COUNTY

No injuries in school bus wreck

No one was injured Tuesday when a school bus and tractor trailer collided in Gadsden County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. There were 11 students on the bus at the time.

The wreck occurred around 3:25 p.m. when a school bus driven by Mimi Robinson Wiggins, 31, of Quincy was traveling east on Saint Hebron Road toward County Road 161, according to a report by Sgt. Robert A. Boucher, FHP crash investigator.

A tractor trailer driven by Terry Tyron Pearson, 38, of Marianna was traveling north on County Road 161 approaching Saint Hebron Road. After stopping at the intersection of County Road 161 and Saint Hebron Road, Wiggins began to make a right turn, and the bus traveled into the path of the tractor trailer. The front left of the tractor trailer collided with the left rear of the bus in the northbound lane of County Road 161.

Wiggins was charged with making an improper right turn, according to the FHP report.